328 Gamblers and Shortcuts

Haltharad soaked its body in the spiritual lava in the volcano, its mind was a mess. It could not remember how long had it been the overlord in this world... It had been years. There was almost nobody that could take it on in this world ever since it leveled to gold flame-level. Gold flame-level was the highest level that this world could accommodate. As a double mutated sky dragon, its ability made it the best in this little world. If the stupid Shadowflame Boa did not listen to what the cunning Golden Toad said and fought it, it would have been the ruler of this world.

It did not expect there to be anyone that was the same as itself, a gold flame-level that was even more powerful to exist in this world. As a double mutated dragonkin sky dragon, it was confident that even if it encountered a triple mutated monster that was the same level, it would win as well. However, Haltharad had a taste of failure today. It was its first time it tasted defeat ever since it achieved gold flame-level. Its opponent was a human that was similar in level to itself but it could not even handle a single hit from this human.

The human girl who looked rather young with a petite body was as powerful as a god, making it difficult for anyone to find it in themselves to fight her. Its body was shaking as it recalled the moment when it was almost killed by her, it was a reflection that came from fear. However, fear was not the only thing, hatred burned inside it as well.

"That damned human girl forced me to shed my carapace. Now, my combat strength had dropped two levels and I have to hide in this freaking place!" Haltharad said to itself. It did not dare to say it too loud as it was afraid that others would find out about the humiliation it felt.

The temporary degradation to its power was the side-effect of its shedding Life Skill, it would last for 72 hours. Not only that, its body would be weak for three days, even its defensive ability would drop two levels. Many of its skills and Life Skills that required Life Power would be deactivated. It was afraid that it might be attacked by blue flame-level monsters, that was why it was hiding.

"Two days more…" Haltharad stared deadly in the air.

"If I can’t fight you, I’ll kill you with a monster crowd! Not only you, all humans will have to pay the price!"

…

"Where is the black dragon hiding?" Lin Huang asked immediately when he heard about the black dragon from Bloody.

"It’s hiding in a spiritual volcano, it’s very weak right now. I think it’s badly injured, its aura had dropped to the that of a blue flame-level monster." Bloody told its observation.

"A blue flame-level monster…" Lin Huang was tempted. He knew very well that it was the side-effect of shedding its carapace but it would only last for three days and its combat strength would go back to normal. By then, it would be impossible to kill such a monster.

"One day has passed out of its three days of weakness. I need to find it within these two days or else I’ll lose the opportunity." Lin Huang squinted, he was thinking if he should look for the black dragon. Even though its power had dropped by two levels, the ability of the Molten Dragon was not to be underestimated. Lin Huang’s concern was not its ability but more of what he would get if he was to kill the black dragon.

"Xiao Hei, what kind of rewards will I get if I manage to achieve a double cross-ranking kill?" Lin Huang asked.

"Normal cross-ranking kill - Random Reward Card x1!"

"Double cross-ranking kill - Draw Reward Card x1!"

"Triple cross-ranking kill - Draw Reward Card x3!"

"Quadruple cross-ranking kill - Draw Reward Card x5!"

"Quintuple cross-ranking kill - Draw Reward Card x10!"

"So if I kill the black dragon that had dropped two levels, would that be considered as a triple or a quintuple cross-ranking kill?" Lin Huang asked.

"The Molten Dragon’s level drop is just temporary and its real combat strength is still gold flame-level. If you manage to kill it, it’ll be considered a quintuple cross-ranking kill and you’ll receive a draw of 10 Reward Cards."

Lin Huang was over the moon when he heard Xiao Hei’s reply.

"I should be able to use a Double Reward Card, right?" Lin Huang asked again.

"Yes, a Double Reward Card can be used on all cross-ranking kill."

"That means, if I manage to kill it, I’ll get to draw 20 cards!" Lin Huang could not resist such a temptation.

"I must do this!"

The Molten Dragon that was hiding in the volcano far away had no idea that it had become the ultimate boss for Lin Huang. Lin Huang was even thinking if he should get Mr. Fu to get him a gold flame-level monster with the Life Skill ability to shed its carapace after the training ended so that he could get the quintuple cross-ranking reward.

Xiao Hei noticed what he was thinking.

"The objective of the reward from system is to encourage you to strengthen yourself. Such behaviour of trying to cheat the reward system is not encouraged. As soon as humans find shortcuts, they’ll always look for more shortcuts. This is the evil side of humans. With the time spent looking for shortcuts, some people have already arrived at the destination with their own strength. I hope that you don’t become one of those people who are always looking for shortcuts. Things that you achieve through hard work are the most valuable ones."

"It’s just a thought, why must you give me a life lesson…" Lin Huang smiled awkwardly after hearing what Xiao Hei said but soon he fell into a deep thought. He had seen many people who were always looking for shortcuts when he was on earth instead of doing what they should do. This was similar to what he saw in gamblers who lived in the casinos. They wanted to get rich by gambling but what usually happens is that they would go bankrupt and even get their family members killed.

Lin Huang thought if those gamblers put the passion they had for gambling into their career, even if they did not become a millionaire, they would still definitely make enough to feed their family. Shortcuts were acceptable occasionally but if one wanted to use shortcuts in everything, that would be no different from gambling. The consequences might get ugly.

"Lin Huang, what are you thinking about?" Yi Yeyu waved her hand in his face.

"Nothing." Lin Huang snapped out of his thoughts and realized that Yi Yeyu had ended her conversation with Luo Li. Luo Li had returned to be with the two examiners. Aside from the 50-odd participants who decided to not proceed with the training, the rest had left. In reality, among the 90-odd people who voted to end the assessment, only slightly more than 50 of them stayed. Lin Huang looked at the remaining people and realized that most of them had leveled up to holy fire-level. It was unnecessary for them to stay as they had achieved what they wanted to from the ruins.

"Let’s go." Lin Huang waved to the both of them, he did not want the three of them to be misunderstood as giving up the training.